The buzz is building around the idea of “low-code” and “no-code” platforms, where anyone with a great idea can spin it into existence regardless of technical ability. Such days are not upon us quite yet, but they are coming. In an article for InformationWeek, CA Technologies CTO Otto Berkes discusses the implications of this coming technology. Dangerously Simple? Berkes likens low-code to when graphical user interfaces (GUIs) first emerged: GUIs enabled people to use technology …

The future is seeing double, at least where the Internet of Things (IoT) is concerned. According to analysts, making the best use of IoT could demand the use of the digital twin, which is a “digital representation of a physical object which also includes data from the object and the ability to monitor it.” Mark Samuels explains the details in an article for ZDNet. Dual Fates The idea of digital twins can be applied to …

Some people are just pests, and if you are unlucky, you might find yourself managing one as part of your team on a project. This does not need to be the end of the world though. Maybe, just maybe, you can work with this person and squeeze out a positive outcome. In a post at Project Bliss, Leigh Espy discusses the steps you can take. Pest Control The first thing you have to do is …

Deciding to accomplish something new with your life when your current schedule is already booked solid is impossible. This is a major reason why goals are never achieved—the person just never cleared out enough time to really dedicate to pursuing the goal. In an article for Harvard Business Review, Elizabeth Grace Saunders shares some advice to streamline your time to ensure there is room to achieve goals. New Goals versus Old Problems Her first tip …

To phrase it one way, scientific management is the idea that labor should be divided to a point of optimal simplicity so that the processes become reliable in spite of the human dinguses actually doing the work. It is not the most optimistic business philosophy, but its popularity for many years was unchallenged. In a post at his blog, Joe the IT Guy explains how scientific management still permeates ITSM and how that may not …

Nobody does work just for the heck of it. There has to be a motivation compelling people to put in the effort. Research has been conducted into the various different ways that people are motivated to complete work. In a post at her website, project leadership coach Susanne Madsen shares Gretchen Rubin’s four categories of people and how they motivate themselves at work: Obliger Questioner Upholder Rebel Upholding Motivation Each of these categories has to …

Setting the strategy is one thing, and doing the strategy is another. No matter how great a pitch an executive gives for how strategy will better position business, it will not come to anything if the right projects with motivated workers are not built around it. In a post for Strategy Execution, Elizabeth Harrin shares some advice to spur employee engagement with your strategic projects. Connect and Empower To back up a bit—a good pitch …

Requirements are the direction and the guardrails on a project. They specify all the general work that must be done in order to satisfy stakeholders and push strategy forward with project completion. In an article for TechRepublic, Moira Alexander shares seven steps to get requirements gathering right: Identify all project stakeholders. Ask stakeholders the right questions. Determine the best requirements-gathering techniques. Document everything. Analyze the results. Verify the results. Obtain sign-off. A Humble Gathering While …

A few years ago, I was asked to assist on a project where the client was replacing a highly-customized legacy system. As part of the discovery process, we were looking at the integrations to the other systems—internal, third-party administrators, and so on—currently in place. One integration in particular seemed unnecessarily convoluted; it received a file from one system, validated all of the data, and generated workflows to various roles in the event a particular transaction …

Enterprise risk management (ERM) is essentially just what it sounds like—taking a business-wide view of organizational objectives and addressing the multifaceted risks that might arise from pursuing them. Project risk management takes the same principles and shrinks them to the project level. Both are necessary for healthy business, but ERM and project risk management are not often linked well enough. In a post at the Project Risk Coach, Harry Hall discusses how to more effectively …